Honestly, I am not turning into an anorak!
I got the Flightradar24 app, the full version which does the alerts (about £5) and set up an alert on 7700.
Just now I got two. AF1186, turning back really quick to land somewhere quick. And another one which I lost.
I wonder how many people are out there, watching out for “stuff”?
Too many. And as we speak there is probably som web site humming with “informed” theories about why AF1186 sqwaked MAYDAY and turned back.
It does take a while before it is posted to the AvHerald which is actually very factual – except from most of the comments from self-declared aviation experts who have never flown anything but Microsoft FS
Nothing on Pprune yet either…. the spotters must have gone on summer hols ;-)
Based on my extensive data collection 
I reckon there is a 7700 several times every day.
72,3% of all statistics are wrong.
The AF1184 experienced
minor technical problems
I also use the alerts function in the FR24 app. 7700 happens very frequently in EU airspace. You will receive so many of them on your phone that you’ll stop paying attention to them 
I havent seen any 7700 which resulted in a crash yet. So statistically you should be safe if you squawk 7700 when in an emergency situation
Not only your squawk code, but also anything you say on the radio will be recorded by hobbyists on the ground and put on Youtube.
Last saturday there was a Transavia flight which got in serious trouble in a heavy storm. They failed to land at Rotterdam EHRD, where not accepted at Eindhoven EHEH for a diversion, problems with the flaps, long holding times at Schiphol EHAM so ultimately they got low on fuel and had to make a landing with no option of a go around.
Interestingly the crew did not issue a Mayday.
The audio recording is on youtube:
My old iPad2 still beeps whenever there is a 7700, and about once a day is not far off. Sometimes the flight carries on as usual, sometimes they descend immediately, and sometimes they return or land at an airport close by. But what rate is that? Are there 10.000 Flightradar24-trackable flights a day? Is a 7700 once every 10.000 flights noticable? I bet a lot of them are faulty indications of engine trouble or fire or other warnings.
Can I turn this thread into a poll? How many of you have squawked 7700 (intentionally) ?
Not me, although I should have on at least on occasion.
The AF1184 could not have been that much of an emergency since he flew all the way back to France where it came from I was watching him at about 4000ft and 215kt, in Germany near Munster, so something was obviously seriously wrong, for a while, but had to do some work.
